Chongqing.

So we left the river, and took the bus to the Chongqing Zoo. We knew we only had a short time there and that our reason to make the stop on the way to the airport was, of course, the Giant Pandas. So we got our tickets and headed off to the Panda Enclosure. OMG. There they were, waiting for us. And they are so cute, even though from what everyone says they are a bit nasty tempered. One of them sitting in a special chair, obviously designed for easy viewing and at the same time easy munching of eucalyptus. A real photo op. We all took about a million pictures, then it was off to the Zoo Museum. We weren't really looking to buy anything,especially in a museum inside a zoo, but there was a guy there who was carving a unique type of jade so ......

As a result of our purchase, we were last on the bus- but everyone waited for us (smile)and we were off to the airport for our short flight to Xi'an and another Chinese treasure- the Terra Cotta soldiers. Remember that part- we were late for the ride to the airport but the bus waited for us.

In Xi'an we had had an opportunity to pay extra for a Tang Dynasty dinner/show but we had opted not to do so in order to go out and see some of Xi'an on our own. We had remembered what our friend on the Shanghai flight had said about Xi'an being China's past and we aimed to see some of it, especially since the trip to the soldiers wasn't until the next morning. But when we arrived at the very impressive Xi'an Kempinski hotel (Viking did put us up in some very nice 5 star hotels!) we discovered that we were out in the middle of nothing. Built way out of town, designed to be a self sufficient resort (but not there yet), we were stuck. Luckily there was a beautiful pool so we enjoyed the facilities and wondered how the rest of the group was doing (we were 2 of 8 who didn't go. Our excuse, and we still think it was a good one- was that THEY had all just STARTED their trip and we had been traveling for a month by then. We needed a break.) And we had been told by Tom, our very efficient guide, that those of us who hadn't dropped an additional $40 each on the Tang Thing would be provided with the tasty, convenient, included meal- right there in the sumptuous Kempinski dining room. No bus- no boat-no flight. Cool. Count us in. And some people we had met and made friends with had also opted not to go, so we agreed to meet in the beautiful, new bar at 7Pm for a drink before dinner.

At 7 we found a table- (not too hard since there were about 100 people in the entire hotel- and we made up about 75 of of that number) and waited for our friends while listening to a young girl sing American songs. When Jan and Mary Ann arrived they said that they had tried to order a drink already- had we had a chance to do so? No- but we were game. We headed for the dining room, ready for a new experience. Oh yeah.

Our arrival at the table was matched by the appearance of 3 very young, very smiley Chinese employees. Unsuspecting, we ordered a bottle of white wine from a Chilean winery. What a global world we live in! We could get a Chilean wine in Communist China! 15 minutes later all 3 Chinese kids (don't they have to be older than 21 to serve alcohol? Maybe not.) showed back up with a bottle held proudly on a tray. Right winery- but a red wine. Foolish as we are, we explained the mistake and actually let the 3 kids AND our wine disappear back out of sight. By this time we had been served our soup, and our salad, but no sign of the wine. We were joined in our laughter about the situation by the other 4 people from Viking, seated at tables around us. One of the women asked if we had been wise to send the bottle back because "who knew when another might show up?" No, we were sure it was about to be presented for our consumption.......but when it DIDN'T appear, we assured the few employees still around (most of them were otherwise engaged in going to Chile for the wine) that we would happily take the previously offered bottle- as long as it was on our table, in our glasses and in our hands before dinner was over....so off they scurried helpful, as always. While we were pondering this development, a new person came up to us. She leaned over Judy and said- "Madam- rare, medium or well?" After a moment's thought Judy asked "What kind of steak is it?" A stricken look came over the waitress, who paused to compose herself and then said...."Madam- rare, medium or well?" They were the only 4 words in English that she knew. Still, we could hardly be critical since we could barely manage "good morning" in Chinese so we took it all in stride. And just about then, almost as a reward- our bottle of wine (the original one) showed back up! Good- we were on a roll. Unfortunately, we are pretty sure that the waitress had never before attempted to open a wine bottle (or maybe even have seen one) and she gallantly tried for some time to get it open. Finally, to the amusement of all of the rest of the Viking travelers, we indicated with our best sign language to bring the bottle, AND the opener, to the table and we would do it ourselves......ah, the pleasures of travel. And we hadn't even gotten to the Terra Cotta soldiers yet. Tomorrow- another 5:30AM wakeup call and another intra China flight.

Farming: Chinese-style

We did see a lot of the different valleys and gorges, and we were glad we did. I mentioned the unique style of farming used by the local inhabitants. When you realize just how steep the valley gorges are, and the lack of what we Westerners would consider to be arable land, the answer (I guess) is obvious. Up the slope. This is really thinking outside the box, since there is nothing easy about this process. First off, the land they were moved to was a different makeup of soil altogether. Remember- this new “crop land” was located on the sides of mountains, over 600 feet higher than the old farm land. So the dirt available there didn’t consist so much of top soil as- rocks. Rocks that were hard enough to have withstood centuries of weather. And now a group of about 13,000 farming families were going to plant their livelihood there.

I took many pictures of the various fields, just because they were so amazing. In addition, “Susan” told us that the soil is all worked by hand. All of the rocks that had to be removed, all of the plowing, etc- by hand. And the reason why? Because the pitch of the sloped fields is such that the animals (horses and cattle, for example) would lose their footing and slide down the mountainside. While that seems funny in retrospect…….

After our little outing we again returned to the Century Sun and prepared for sailing. Next stop- Chongquin. This was even more exciting than the Three Gorges Dam because everyone knows that Chongquin=Pandas. And we couldn’t wait. (Unfortunately, lurking at the other end of our visit to the Panda enclosure was another intra-China fight, but you do what you have to do. More about the intra-China flights later)

We cruised throughout the night, enjoyed the on board entertainment such as Bingo, and got the official word about disembarking, paying our bills and understanding the process of getting all 400 of us (and our luggage) to the airport for the flight to Xi’an. Good night- see you tomorrow! Pandas- here we come.

Three Gorges Dam

Having missed the first excursion of the cruise, we gleefully took advantage of the fact that the 4 desktop computers on board “YOU CANNOT USE LAPTOPS OR WIRELESS INTERNET ON BOARD THE CENTURY SUN” (sheesh!) were available. So I sat down and wrote all of you who were wondering what part of the flat ocean/earth we had fallen off of…..email after email. The joke, of course, was on me, since China had installed some very effective filters on those available computers, so our faithful missals home were either lying dead on the floor or bouncing around in cyber-space somewhere. Still, I felt better about it. Ignorance is bliss.

The next day we really entered “Gorge Country” and it was, well, gorgeous. We made an excursion to the actual Three Gorges Dam site, had a tour and everything, while they explained the need for the dam that had displaced the entire population of the valley. The design, technology and scope of the project is overwhelming and a testament to Chinese determination. Determination on the part of the government, of course. And in return, as the Scientific American reported “the government ordered some 1.2 million people in two cities and 116 towns clustered on the banks of the Yangtze to be evacuated to other areas before construction, promising them plots of land and small stipends—in some cases as little as 50 yuan, or $7 a month—as compensation”.

After returning to the ship, we started the job of passing through the area. The site consists of 5 locks. It took us 4 hours to navigate the locks, allowing us to pass through into the “Lessor Gorge” area. By this time the river was bordered on both sides by huge, steep walls of granite, trees, and amazingly- crop fields. Many farmers had their lands taken from them, with promises of payment and help in moving. Allegedly, funds for relocating the 13,000 farmers around Gaoyang disappeared after being sent to the local government, leaving residents without compensation. Crop fields- more on that later.

By this time we were rather “locked” out, and most of us had retired to the bar for some liquid refreshment that wasn’t muddy and flowing past the bow of our ship. Tomorrow was another big day- a transfer to a smaller boat that would take us up into the valleys flooded by the dam, and the opportunity to float over all of those homes, schools and such lying 600 feet below the current water level.

As promised, the next day we met a local tour guide and started up the valley. “Susan” was about 28 years old, and she and her parents were among the people displaced by the flooding of the region. She pointed out the beautiful, new, tall, high-rises along the (new) riverbank, and was happy to share with us the exact condo that she and her husband now own. She said that the old people are still bitter about the loss of their homeland, but that the young people are happy to have the new, modern apartments. And there are many. When you move 1 ¼ million people, something has to give. And this is a hilly region, so obviously the only way to go is….up. Just like in the cities, buildings are skyscrapers. And densely packed together. I guess they have to be thankful for all of the kilowatts that the dam is providing because you seriously would not want to have a power outage and have to use the stairs in these buildings. Damn. Dam.

The Yangtze

OK. We settled in, enjoyed a nice dinner (we were so late arriving that the kitchen and dining room staff had had to wait for us- always a warm welcome when you have crew that already work 14 hour days), had our welcome glass of champagne- all was good. Tomorrow we would (sadly) say goodbye to Shanghai and sail off to see for ourselves the wonder and the woes wrought by the controversial Three Gorges Dam.

Here would be a good time to talk about locks. Never in our lives had either of us ever been, or even seen, a real lock. Which was why, while we were in Paris and not doing the regular Louvre/Orsay/Eiffel Tower thing, we had gone out of our way to experience the St Martin Canal river boat ride, complete with- you guessed it- several locks. What were we thinking? Everyone knows that the Three Gorges Dam…..and also the Volga River…..locks, locks, locks. If we had been able to include Panama in this trip we could have really knocked them dead, but as it were we only had to
chance to traverse, hmm, let’s see:

St Martin: 3 locks
The Volga: 19 locks
The Yangtze: 7 locks

That’s a total of 29 locks. We are now experts in locks and we really don’t need to see any others, so I guess that means we can scratch the Panama Canal off our list….. I dutifully took multiple pictures of the first 7 or 8 locks we passed through and I would be happy to show them to whomever might want to see them. Instead, I printed about 3 to put in the official scrapbook of the trip and that will have to suffice. Still- the technology is pretty amazing and although I still don’t understand why they’re called “locks”, I’m glad we have been introduced.

Back to the cruise. We hit the river with a bang, as the Program Director announced at dinner that our first excursion would be the next morning at 8:30, to the “Viking School”. We had encountered this sort of thing on the Pandaw cruise through the Mekong Delta- the river companies adopt a school or two and then schedule stops there. This is remarkably clever- they take the whole cruise ship there to meet the children and then offer to accept donations. In other words- the riverboat company gets the credit and the passengers foot the bill. Judy and I didn’t go, actually, but we were just about the only ones not to, thereby losing a shot at major footage on the cruise video. Darn. Well, we still have the vodka party from Russia to admire.

After the morning’s bus ride out to the school (actually, people said it was really a heartwarming experience), we pulled up the anchor and sailed the Xiling Gorge. A prelude to the Three Gorges, some of the scenery was beautiful, some not so. Tomorrow: the real thing.

Boarding the boat

So, by this time we are feeling pretty comfortable with the whole river cruising thing. We were looking forward to a leisurely boarding, especially since we had been told by all of our new friends on the Russian cruise that “in China- there isn’t all of this carryyourownluggage business- on the China cruise, it’s all done for you”. So even after the 3 ½ bus ride from the Wuhan airport to the port site, we were still OK. Even after the one and only pit stop (sorry- “happy room stop”) at a low rent roadside “Public Toilet”. Ouch. For those of you women not yet acquainted with the phenomena known as the “eastern toilet”- this would have been a nice intro to the hole in a floor loved by us all. Actually- there was ONE Western toilet, but it was out of order and when a toilet in Asia is out of order it is really not a good thing. Picture: contents flowing across the floor. So most of us decided we could easily wait another 90 minutes and off we went.

Arrival at the slip was an interesting experience. After all, this was not the usual docking site, but one chosen because it was the nearest one up river that was useable (Read this: not under 10 feet of water). So we were taken through the back streets of China, and this view does NOT look like the 5 star Grand Hyatt in Shanghai. (Have I mentioned our room there was easily the nicest I have ever been in? Ever?) Finally, we pushed past the slums and people and pulled up in front of the Century Sun- civilization, at last! (And Western toilets). So we unload from the bus (and yes, we could leave our luggage to be brought asap by the Viking staff), start across the gangplank…….and realize that the muddy waters of the mighty Yangtze are full of…..bathers. Local bathers.

Up to their knees in icky river water. We stared at them, they stared back….and we went on in to take care of our business while they took care of theirs.

OK- so a small setback on our enlightened road (or bus trip) to fabulosity, but we took it in stride, especially after a trip to the “happy room”. In my next life I’m coming back as a male of the species. Women were NOT built to pee over their dangling pant legs into a nasty hole in the ground….anyway, we covered that already.

But- as we entered the ship (ship, boat, whatever- we used the terms interchangeably) we noticed a strange odor. Mildew, to be exact. Seems that the recent heavy rains and flooding had soaked more than just the surrounding flatlands. In fact, our cabin was so nicely damp and warm that had we added a few rocks we could have sub-rented it out as a steam room. And for the next 5 nights we lived and breathed in that environment. The price paid when we finally disembarked? A suitcase full of very wet clothes and a slight lung infection for Judy. But we won’t dwell on our living conditions- we were about to set sail up the Yangtze- and over the tops of entire villages flooded by the Chinese government when the 3 Gorges Dam was built. Now that’s wet.

Can we get to China from here?

Well, we left our Viking home for the airport,and without a hitch caught the flight to Frankfurt. This was the travel day we had been dreading since we planned the trip last July. 3 hours to Frankfurt, a 2 hour layover then board another flight to Hong Kong- basically just retracing our route from Moscow. Well, after waiting an hour it became obvious that the flight was very full- too full. So when they asked for volunteers to stay over and fly the next day, we jumped at the chance. 600 euros each, a night in the hotel and 3 free meals. Only catch- we couldn't claim our luggage as it was already booked through. We had our meds and our toothbrushes so we were OK with that. We settled into the hotel and waited for the next day.

When we arrived at the airport the next day we were again told that the flight was overbooked, so.......we came out of the deal 2400 euros richer and a bit rested after the hectic pace of the Russia cruise. We cancelled our hotel in HK, and rebooked our flight directly into Shanghai for the beginning of the China cruise. In addition, as further thanks for being so accommodating, they upgraded us (for free) to business. This, after we had begged to be able to use miles or dollars or both..... anyway- off to China.

On the flight we sat next to a German woman who has lived in the greater Shanghai area for 6 years, working for Bosch. She told us we would love Shanghai and that the saying is "Beijing is the present, Xi'an is the past, and Shanghai is the future". What an amazing city! The Huangpo River runs through it, and on one side of the river the buildings are almost a thousand years old- on the other side, everything was built since 1991. We walked the famous Bund; along side the river, between the old and the new.

China has, we have been told (many times) 1.4 billion people. And so the rapid construction is racing ahead, in order to be able to house everyone. Since 1991, people have been leaving the countrysides to go to the cities, and the infrastructure and housing has to keep up. And up is the operative word- apartment buildings have upwards of 70 floors. With all of the skyscrapers, it has a New-York-City kind of feel.Even the shops, restaurants and shopping malls feel familiar- just super packed with people, rather like a subway at rush hour.

We were booked into the Shanghai Grand Hyatt (thanks Viking!) so we dropped our suitcases and wandered out into the heat (and smog). After passing Louis Vuitton, Dior and the like we found a mall more to our liking, and sat down to watch the people while enjoying a Haagen Daz ice cream. The hordes of young people was almost scary it was so forceful and nonstop. How do you survive in a country that is so over run with people?

After 2 very pleasant nights at the luxurious Hyatt, we met our tour guide, Tom, for the flight to Wuhan, where we were supposed to start the river portion of the trip. But there had been so much flooding that we couldn't board there, so we were bussed 4 hours upriver. There, we found our cabin and unpacked for the next 5 nights on the Yangtze.

next- life back on the river........

Leaving Moscow- on to Hong Kong and China

Wednesday July 28, 2010 was our last full day in Moscow, and we again decided not to pay for another excursion with the group on the bus. So we put on our walking shoes, headed over to the "world's most beautiful subway system" and struck out for town. Judy bought us a round trip ticket and we were off. Really off, because although the "metro is easy to use- just identify the direction you want to go in...." the signs are all in Cyrillic. Still, we didn't miss a beat or a stop and we managed to get there and back without any unplanned direction changes. I'm studying Russian next, it is so foreign that it seems very appealing. And it would have helped us on this little adventure because although we have it on the highest authority that all students start English in the 5th grade- 90% of the people we asked for directions shook us off. And my newly learned "good morning" and "good afternoon" didn't get us very far. We had lunch in a small sidewalk cafe, revisited Red Square as I was on the lookout for a T-shirt and a pack of postcards of the metro system, and we figured the most touristy place in town was the place to start. And we were right- I got them both. Actually, the T-shirt I got wasn't the one I really wanted, after seeing it in a store window......but that little number was attached to a much larger number- a price tag of 6,000 rubles. Divided by 30 that's.......... yes, $200 USD. For a T shirt that says "Russia" on it. But I can be happy with the one I got and use the extra money for other things. Right? Am I right? In re-reading this I just realized that I've written 2 paragraphs and not mentioned the climate. Well- we just bought an English language newspaper, and in it was an article about the current atmospheric conditions in Moscow. To wit, Monday (the day we all piled into our trusty Volvo bus and walked Red Square) was the hottest day in Moscow since they started keeping records. And to make it a perfect combination, the smog levels in the city from the neighboring peat fields (the underground peat spontaneously combusts, sending smoke into the air. The peat is everywhere, and the fires are impossible to put out. Putin was just asked to allocate 825 million USD to fight the underground fires) was recorded at 10 times the safety level or, as they described it, the equivalent of smoking 40 packs of cigarettes in a single day. "The life of a tourist isn't easy....." anyway, we all have to die of something and I doubt in our case it will be lung cancer. Everyone on board is complaining about it, since the limited a/c on the ship picks up the smoke and pumps it through the air vents. But this too shall pass. In general our little 13 day cruise through the rivers of Russia has been enjoyable and worth the money. Our daily guides speak perfect English (although with a very thick accent), they are extremely knowledgeable about their subjects and everyone did their best to assure us a good time. The weather will be what it will be- and as we move on to China it will be hotter and smoggier yet. Traveling is not for the faint of heart. At this point we are not so much looking forward to the wonders of China as the laundromats of Hong Kong- everything we own is very dirty and very smelly. I guess I'll wear my bathing suit to the laundry because damn- if I don't wash everything I'll have to burn it..... In conclusion, we found Russia to be much more wooded than we ever imagined- we sailed past 2 weeks of aspen and pine, an amazing forested area that was green and clean. The cities also were quite clean, crime was never really an issue (although we picked up a pickpocket in Yaroslavl; he chose poorly as this well-traveled group all spotted him immediately and he finally moved on to another set of tourists), the weather was a bitch but unavoidable and unexpected, the food was familiar enough to be soothing and the boat was very comfortable with a great crew and interesting lectures. Would we consider returning to Russia? No- and that is primarily because of the Russians themselves. With one or two exceptions, if the people we came into contact with weren't WORKING with tourists, say for example the average man on the street or the clerk in a market- they were stone faced, cold and disinterested in providing any assistance. More than once we were shooed away with a scowl and a flap of the wrist, accompanied by some Russian that we (fortunately) couldn't understand. We also wouldn't return because of the cost of the visa (about $400 USD) and the fact that if we ever want to see another Russian Orthodox icon or gold domed church we'll drive down the road to Ben Lomond. So- with that, we're off to Hong Kong for 2 nights after a 3 hour flight to Frankfurt (yes, that's in the wrong direction, we know) to catch our connecting flight to Hong Kong- 11 hours in economy. A night on the plane- our idea of a good time......we'll let you know how it goes.

Moscow

Well, we made a stop in Yaroslavl and saw some rather uninteresting things. Even the shopping was awful so the ship and this blog moved on.....next stop: Uglich. There, we were scheduled to visit another monastery and see more icons, so we bailed on the program and went shopping. I mean- really. We're pretty tolerant but all these dead people were about to kill us... Near the port there was a nest of souvenir stalls, so we dusted off our rubles, dollars and euros and set out. We were scoping it all out, deciding on gifts and knick knacks and such- when a huge rain storm blew up and in. Here we were, trying our best to help out the local economy..... But we were determined, and waited out the bluster with several local Russian ladies, and soon we were back in action. As many of the stalls had similar stuff we made our decisions based not necessarily on whether or not they spoke English, or even prices, but on whether or not they would smile or in some way acknowledge our presence. You'd be surprised at how few did.....the Russians aren't as bad as the Poles (Yikes!) but they're not a whole lot better. And the French are given a bad time! They should mount a publicity campaign because compared to the Eastern Europeans they are positively motherly. Anyway- not to worry- we dropped several hundred rubles and went back home happy. Now we just have to decide how we're going to get it all to Hong Kong and on to China....

So we set sail from Uglich with Moscow in our sights. We had had a mental picture of St. Petersburg with the rivers, the Hermitage and all, and it was pretty close. A beautiful, old city. But Moscow has been surprising. We envisioned more of the soviet-style, concrete block architecture, all the while remembering that Moscow has nudged Tokyo as the most expensive city in the world. Well! Yesterday we visited Red Square and it gives some of the most beautiful plazas in the world a run for their money. And I do mean money. Zut. Here's a picture of one of the apartment buildings just outside of the main city- the price of these apartments is 3-4 million, USD. We found a bottle of Clicquot champagne that we pay about $40 for in CA, here it was over $200 USD. Anyway, money isn't everything, I guess- there are lots of other things in life. Like weather. The record heat wave has been following us east- and we are averaging about 40-42 degrees C. That's over 100 degrees, and just goes to prove what our favorite tour guide, Victoria, says- "The life of a tourist isn't easy".

So we saw Red Square, and today the Kremlin. I always thought that the name "Red Square" was a reference to the Communist party- turns out that 'red" in Russian means "pretty"- and it is that for sure. At one end of the plaza sits St. Isaacs Cathedral. We didn't get to enter, but if we had, I"m sure there are more dead Russians buried inside. The outside was picturesque enough for me. And since they don't use a/c here, if it's 40 degrees outside, you can be sure it's 45 inside.

On the Volga

4 days out of Moscow- on various rivers and through many locks- I had never been through a lock until we took the canal trip in Paris- and now we're experts! I'm not sure I understand the exact technology behind them, but they are fascinating to watch.

And speaking of fascinating- our stop yesterday was at a monastery founded in 1397, and still functions today, although with 6 monks instead of the the mass number of people at it's peak- 200 monks, 2,000 police and 20,000 serfs, as of course sefdom was in full swing. It was an extremely profitable monastery, as such things go, as the tsars located in St Petersburg maintained it as a "safe house" in case of turmoil or revolt, and of course they wanted it to be comfortable and secure. As comfortable as you can get in the 15th and 16th centuries in a area with a winter climate of 60 degrees below zero- Celsius.

Still, we've seen a lot of icons (our cousin Gail would be proud) and we are ready for something else- namely shopping. And that is promised today as we stop this afternoon in Yaroslavl.

on the river between St Petersburg and Moscow....

So we've learned a bit about Russia, and the Russians- some of it good, some not so- but all of it fascinating. We are currently locked within a "lock", one of the 17 we will pass through on our way to Moscow and as we wait to be expelled on the other side (and as we wait for dinner, even MORE important!) I'll write a bit....

First off, as we found in the Mekong Delta- river cruisers are TRAVELERS- there's just no doubt. Ask them anything. They've been to Egypt, Africa, So. America, Europe (of course, very tame)- these are not people who book a trip into the Marriott in London and have bus tours to everything....we just came back from a special "Captains Cocktail Party" for those of us onboard who are "Viking Explorers"- in other words, who have traveled on Viking before. The jokes on them- this is our first but we qualify because when we disembark in Moscow we fly to Shanghai for the Yangtze cruise- a cruise, by the way, that EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT I'VE TALKED TO ONBOARD has already taken....better late than never,in our case!

Today we had to get a wake up call for dawn as we docked on an island that boasts 60 permanent residents and the "Cathedral of the Transformation"- a church built in the 1700's with 22 domes, 2 storeys and a bell tower- completely out of wood but without a single nail, screws or adhesive of any kind. Amazing. Built from the millions of aspen that grow here- we have spent 3 days passing by forests of the stuff- who knew that Russia was so wooded? Not me.

St Petersburg, Russia

OK- so we've been here in St Petes for 2 1/2 days now, and not one of you has asked about the name of our blog......Paige? JIM!?!?!?!? Come on! Jim- you surely can ask and answer this pressing question!

So we arrived at the very unfriendly airport on Saturday (a day late- and 200 euros short, but who's counting?)and found our Russian transport to the port. Heaven! It was so nice to unpack our suitcases and to know that for the next 2 weeks we'd be staying in the same place....our ship is nice, our cabin is great, even our fellow passengers are a delight. And St Petersburg! What an interesting city! Clean and amazing with fascinating architecture. It's currently 11:30PM and still light out- we are so far north that we only have about 4 or 5 hours of nighttime....we go to sleep and wake up to sunlight.

Brandenburg Gate and the Museum of those, uh, lost, uh unfortunate, Jews

on the banks of the Strandbad Wannsee

On the plane to St Petersburg.....

So- we ended our time in Berlin with a day at the Wannsee, seated in a rented cabana along with 10,000 Germans. Actually, we had the cabana to ourselves but the sand and water were covered with locals. The day was very pleasant- not quite as hot as before but still warm enough that we had to venture into the murky waters on occasion. We even celebrated our German heritage and our last day in Berlin with a Rostwiener with (what else?) German potato salad. And beer, of course. A quick trip by S-Bahn back to town and we had time to pack, meet with the property manager to get our euros back (still waiting for the French euro deposit to show up in our PayPal account: Zut!) and go to a nice restaurant for dinner- Italian.

We weren't particularly sad to say goodbye to the condo, so we were up at 5:00AM and caught an early morning taxi to Tegel airport. As we were checking in at LOT in Berlin the young, slightly snippy agent couldn't find us, kept asking if we had a paper ticket, and finally told us that we were off a day- we were booked to fly to Warsaw on Thursday. I produced our itin and she glanced at it, said she'd just put us on that day's flight but that "our travel agent had made the mistake". I again reminded her that I had a printout of the itin and that no- we did have the correct day.......and when we finally boarded the plane- surprise!!! we had the same exact seats Rose had booked for us even though the plane was full! Imagine! Changing travel days to a full plane and getting your same booked seats! How stupid did she think we are? But before we could board, we had to wait for the plane to arrive, and there we sat and watched the clock tick along- past our "departure time" and into the next hour. This,in spite of the fact that the board never changed our flight time, and in fact cheerfully announced "boarding" at the assigned time, all the while as we sat and waited. This was enough fun for us, early in the morning, when it finally dawned on us that leaving late meant........arriving late.....which meant....uh oh. Missed our connection from Warsaw to St Petersburg. We finally arrived in Warsaw and spent an hour with the "transfer info people" it was obvious that they was expecting us....said that they were all amazed that Berlin LOT allowed us to board a very late plane, knowing that we would miss the only connection to St Pete when there was another DIRECT flight to Russia that they could/should have put us on when the departure was delayed. So to summarize our travel experiences in Germany- our train from Sarrebrucken was so late we missed our connection in Mannheim and our plane from Berlin was so late we missed the flight to Poland. Glad to be moving on! Next- Russia!

Berlin

Well, we are settled into a very old condo in a very old building on the Kurfurstendamm, sweltering in the heat. Berlin is in the midst of one of the hottest weeks in recent memory and we are here to enjoy it. Now, you all know me- I'd rather be too hot than too cold, but this is ridiculous. We are back to our PV summer routine of 2 showers a day, and even with that you don't want to stand too close. But the condo is fine, nestled between 2 freeways, a rotary and the S-bahn train station, with no a/c and a shower stall the size of a postage stamp. We were so spoiled at Alicia's mother's house with a huge personal bathroom and a shower door that closed....that we got lulled into a false sense of security. Watch for the picture of me trying to shave my legs in the shower (rated PG for "Pretty Grumpy"). On second thought, maybe we aren't so thrilled with the place after all... but tomorrow is our last day then it's off to St Petersburg.

So we spent the day in East Berlin (yes, I know there isn't really an East Berlin, anymore) because truly, that's where it's all happening (and happened). Took a few pictures of the Brandenburg Gate, walked the Unter del Linden and spent a few cool hours in the quaintly named "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe". Amazingly honest. Afterwards we sat and had a beer and reflected on the fact that for once, we weren't the bad guys. (We're still a little sensitive after trips to Hiroshima and Saigon).

Tomorrow is our last day here and we had planned to return to the Eastern side, but the heat is starting to affect our judgement (maybe for the better) and so instead we are going to the Strandbad Wannsee for a swim. If it was good for Hitler it's good enough for us. We'll let you know how it all works out. TTFN

France!

Well, since we last talked, we have had a very busy time! Let's see- where to start? We arrived in Paris to warm weather (too warm?) and a nice big apartment in the 10th Arrondissement, between Gare du Nord and Gare d'Este.There we beat the rush, for all of you who think Parisians are rude....by meeting the first and ONLY rude person in the city. We had been given travel directions to the condo building, and also the code to enter and "the name of the staircase". Easy- we tried an elevator or two, not realizing that the French evidently are on a first name basis with their stairwells-and we were DEFINITELY strangers. So finally I threw in the proverbial towel and asked the concierge. She told me, and she told me off.. with an added "zut!" at the end for emphasis. No matter- we were in!

Inside the condo we met the property manager, paid our 200 euro refundable damage deposit, and said "adios- we'll see you in 5 days" to get our euros back because yeah- 200 euros is a lot of cash and we would need it in Berlin.

We took a cool (very hot) canal ride on the St Martin canal, had dinner with Stephane and Magali under the Eiffel TOwer, supped in the Marais- good times. We also tracked down and supported Starbucks in Paris after asking several very kind, very helpful locals,including a young lady who explained where a Starbucks was hiding (near the Centre Pompidou) and then gently added "But you know, we have very good French coffee".... at which point we told her that yes, we loved French coffee but we were buying it for a French friend's birthday and she preferred Starbucks. Zut!

So Paris was a treat, as always, and although we didn't return from dinner with Stephane and Magali until 1:30AM and we had to be up by 7 to catch the TGV to Creutzwald, we fell into bed tired, happy and getting better at converting our English into Spanish and then into my rusty French. Then- our first little glitch- the property manager called at about the time he was supposed to arrive, to tell us he was delayed and we should leave to catch our train. He would arrange to return the euros at a later time. Hmm....maybe we can tell the owner of the condo in Berlin that we will pay at a later time?- probably not. What to do? Catch the train, that's what. So we did.

So, 200 euros lighter, we crossed France over to Metz, where Alicia met us. We settled into her mother's huge, beautiful, huge, modern, huge house. 5 bedrooms for 3 people. What a lovely home and family! Nice to finally meet ALicia's mother and to see her in her "french" life. We were treated like royalty with kindness, consideration and excellent food and wine. 3 days of heaven! We also had a chance to visit the American cemetery, only 15 minutes by car (Alicia's- merci Alicia!) where 1,000's of US soldiers are buried as a result of the hard-fought battles for the region in late 1944-early 1945. Beautiful, haunting and emotional.

It's not to be forgotten either that this is the week of Bastille Day in France, and so one night we had the chance to go enjoy fireworks with most of the (small) town. Great fireworks! Mexico, eat your heart out. Very, very fun and a great reminder for those whose who need it (not us) of the close history shared by our 2 countries. Red, white and blue; fireworks in mid July;, Statue of Liberty;liberation...friends are very important, why do we sometimes turn our backs on old friends?

But now it is Monday and that means goodbye to France and guten tag to Germany. We are on the train to Berlin and are not impressed with the exalted German efficiency. The trains are running late, the bathrooms don't work, what is the world coming to?!?! High hopes for the condo in Berlin, if we can put together the euros! TTFN.

Back to the airport- and on to a new adventure!

So- on the Fourth of July we created a few fireworks of our own by taking off to Paris, via Chicago. Now-we admit that we are NOWHERE as fabulous as Andrew and Gordon, but we must modestly say that we do some things with a certain......oh- "je ne sais pas". This is our story. Read it and weep as we travel through Paris, on to the Alsace area of Eastern France, to Berlin, a cruise down the Volga in Russia, several nights in Hong Kong and a cruise through China. I already wish I had packed less...... and weighed less. Travelling is hell on a diet.

We made it safely to Chicago, then on to the fun part- the short 8 hours to Charles de Gaulle. Finally- champagne with a smile. We got the menu, played games on the console, drank a bit- then settled in for a wee bit of a nap- to arrive fresh, you understand. Unfortunately, although our watches said 2am our BODIES said 6pm......

to be continued.......